WASHINGTON - The U.S. government is preparing for the possibility that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government will fall as a result of the Syrian pullout from Lebanon.
Senior Pentagon and
White House officials participated in a special meeting Thursday at the State Department to discuss preparations for the possible collapse of the Baath party in Syria.
Representatives of Syrian opposition groups were also on hand for the talks.
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In an interview with the Washington Post, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States is talking to "as many people as we possibly can."
“What we're trying to do is to assess the situation so that nobody is blindsided, because events are moving so fast and in such unpredictable directions that it is only prudent at this point to know what's going on,” she said.
U.S. State Department officials said the meeting was not convened to coordinate moves to bring down the Syrian government, but rather to assess how the U.S may assist Syrian groups and leaders who support the advancement of democracy and reforms in the country.
Liz Cheney,
daughter of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and the principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs and coordinator for Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiatives, conducted the meeting.
Chirac: Assad will fall
The Washington Post reported that in his meeting with U.S. President George Bush in Europe, French President Jacques Chirac estimated Assad’s government would not survive the withdrawal from Lebanon.
Since that meeting, the Bush administration began to examine the political alternatives to the current Syrian government.
A delegation of The Reform Party of Syria, headed by Farid N. Ghadry, proposed the Americans take measures to pressure Damascus, such as calling for the release of political prisoners held captive in Syrian prisons.
In a recent interview with Ynetnews, Ghadry said Syria would not relinquish its control over Lebanon.
“It’s their last wall of defense, they are planning to create chaos and civil war,” he said.
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